Bag closure



June 13, 1933. w BAKER 1,913,825

BAG CLOSURE Filed Dec. 14, 1931 FIGJ.

INVENTOR- ATTORNEY- Patented June 13, 1933 lumrso STATES PAT NT OFFICE WEBSTER NOYES BAKER, OF GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK, N. Y A CORPORATION 01E DELAWARE BAGPLK, INC, 01

p nae 'cLosuRn I Applicssttion filed December '14, 1981. ierlal Ho. 580,741.

- This invention relates 'to an improved form of closure for bags formed of paper or similar material-having little or no elasticity or ability to stretch. It is particularly useful in connection with bags which are intended to be filled with a granular or pulverulent material and firml closed and which are then subjected to relhtively rough,

handling. When bags of this type are provided with a sewn closure a considerable strain is sometimes placed upon the walls of the bag beneath the threads used in stitching the walls together. As a sewn bag loade with cement, for example, is tossed about in the course of handling and transportation the contents is at times thrown with such .force against the walls of the bag adjacent the closure that a very heavy strain is placed upon the paper or similar material of which the walls are formed. A relatively limitednumber of repetitions of these sudden strains, with no means provided to yieldingly absorb the shocks, will be found to cause a tearing of the paper beneath the stitching and par-v ticularly adjacent the small holes formed in the sewing of the bag. While the thread or material used in the stitching may afford a limited amount-of yield in the seam this is not sufiicient to overcome the weakening of the material produced by the stitching.

Bags of this. character when roughly handled will almost invariably give way alon the line of stitching, which indicates that t is is the weak point of the construction.

It has been a primary object of the present invention to provide for suflicient yielding of the seam o a sewn bag to greatl relieve the shocks and strains incident to the rough handling of the bag. The means contemplated for this purpose is such as to be relatively inexpensive and yet capable of effectively overcoming the weakness of the sewn closure. This means includes acord or strand of suitable material appropriately inter-twined, inter-laced, or interwoven with the thread or stitching medium.

Other objects and advantages of the construction will appear from tthe detailed description of several illustrative forms of the invention which will now be given in conjunction with which Fig. 1 is a face view of the end of a bag embodymg one form of the invention, a portion of a sealing strip emplo ed bein turned back to .disclose the stitchiiig. g

v Fig. 2 is an enlarged face view of one corner of the bag shown in Figure 1, the sealing strlp being cut away in part.

Fig; 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a modified arrangement.

Fig. 4-is a view of the opposite face of the,

corner of the bag shown in Figure 3, and

F1g. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

the accompanying drawing in Referring now to the drawing the improved form of closure has been shown as applied to the valved end of a valve bag. It is equally capable of application, however, to the closure of the bottoms of suchbags, or the closure of either or both ends of open mouthed bags. The bag may or may not be gussetted depending upon the particular construction desired. It may suitably be formed of relatively stifl' paper or similar material having little or no elasticity or yield. If it is of relatively large size and is to be used for heavy duty purposes, such as the acka ing of cement, it will preferably be ibrme of multi-ply material, although smaller bags and those to be subjected to less severe usage may be merely single ply.

As shown the walls 10 and 11 of the tube forming the bag may be simply butted at their ends, one corner being turned inwardly, if desired, to form a valve 12. The butted ends at a suitable distance down from the top of the bag are sewed together by means of stitching 13 in which the stitches may be of any conventional form such as a loop stitch or a lock stitch. In the form of closure illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 the successive stitches are angled back and forth across the longitudinal center line of the stitching as a whole. This zig-zag stitch allows for the passage of a cord 14 beneath the loops or courses of the stitching thread the cord extending substantially straight'across the bag 2 eraeaa ma be formed of any of a variety of materia s, it being of primary importance that t have a desired degree of elasticity or res1l1- ence which will permit the stitches of the seam to temporarily bite into the cord without severing it and will cause the cord to assume its original form as soon as the shock or strain has passed. The tensile stren of the material of the cord should be su cient to avoid any likelihood of breakage. While a cord which is not resilient but is sufficiently soft to permit the stitches to biteinto 1t Wlll. relieve a part of the strain incident to dropping a loaded bag, for example, such a cord will soon become tightly packed and further shocks will not e yieldingly absorbed.

A cord formed of lightly twisted creped, kraft paper of suitable weight hasbeen found excellent for the purposes. It is not only inexpensive but possesses the necessary tensile strength and has a degree of resilience which insures restoration of the formpf the cord after it has assisted in absorbing a shock imparted to the stitching. Cords formed of jute, seisle, hemp, rubber or similar materials will be found quite satisfactory or other forms of paper cord may be used.

It will be observed that the relat on between the cord and stitching thread 1s such that the thread will not pierce the cord. This is quite important for best results as it leaves the cord free to react under its own resilience.

If the thread is passed through the cord it' has a tendency to cut into the material of the cord and exerts such a confining action that much of the benefit of the resilience of the material is lost. 0

If the bag is to be used 111 the handling of fine pulverulent substances which have a ten ency to sift through rather small openings it will be desirable to place a seahn stri of appropriate nature rver the end 0 the ag. For this purpose a strip 15 of crepe paper or other suitable tough, flexible material may be employed. This is preferably folded over the bag end and is secured to the side walls by paste or the like. The paste, however, should not be so situated as to be applied to the cord since that would serve to stiffen the material and interfere with 1ts resilience. The strip preferably extends on each side to a point below the reinforcing cord so as to prevent any sifting which m ght otherwise occur through the perforations formed by the stitching. The paste may be applied both above and below the cord. The sealing strip preferably extends beyond the side edges of the bag as will also the stitching and reinforcing cord. Unravelling of the stitch will be quite effectively prevented by the sealing strip. 7

As shown in Figure 5 a reinforcing cord 14 is provided on each side of the bag. The

cord adjacent the walllO may be omitted, if

desired although its presence will. serve to strengthen the construction. Due to the presence of multiple strands resulting from the looped formation of the threads on this side of the bag, as indicated in Figures 4 and 5, the tendency to cut into the paper is somewhat reduced and there is a certain degree of yield afforded by this formation. For this reason it will be found that satisfactory results are obtained by simply providing a reinforcing cord along the wall 11.

lln Figures 3 and 4 a modified relation between the stitching threads 131 and the reinforcing cords 141 is shown. In lieu of angling'the stitching thread across the cord from one side to the other and back again, as in the first form, the stitching is carried out in a straight line and the cord is woven back and forth along a sinuous path beneath the successive stitches. To produce this result it is simply necessary to force the cord first to one side and then the other between each successive pass of the stitching needle through the walls of the bag. This construction affords the same advantages of reinforcement as the other and is in some respects to be preferred due to the fact that it permits the use of a straight stitch.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a bag constructed in accordance with this invention will have greater resistance to tearing along the .line of stitching than other sewn bags due to the additional yield in the seam brought about by the resilience or elasticity of the cords 14 or 141. Any shock received by the bag will be absorbed more gradually by this permissive yielding and will not have the tearing effect of a more sudden impulse.

While several illustrative forms of the invention have been disclosed in considerable detail it will be understood that various changes, in the construction and arrangement of the elements and in the materials employed, may be made within the general scope of the invention'as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends and a reinforcing cord of resilient material interlaced with the stitches of said seam, said cord being so positioned as yieldingly to resist any tendency of the bag walls to separate.

2. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, and a resilient member inter-laced with the stitches of said scam in such manner as to permit the same to yield against any force tending to separate the bag walls.

3. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, and elastic means inserted between the stitch loops and the adjacent wall of the bag lying wholly within the loops for providing a yiel in the seam when any force tends to separate the bag walls.

4. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, a yieldable reinforcing cord inter-laced with the stitches of said seam and positioned to absorb any force tending to separate the bag walls, and a sealing strip enclosing the end of the bag and said seam.

5. A' closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, a resilient member inter-laced with the stitches of said seam and so positioned as to permit the same to yield against any force tending.

to separate the bag walls and sealing means applied over said seam.

6. A closure for paper bags which comprises a. stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, a resilient member inter-laced with the stitches of said seam and positioned so as to permit the same to yield against any force tending to separate the bag walls and a sealing strip applied over said seam and pasted to the bag wallonly above and below the seam.

I 7.. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, elastic means inserted between the stitch loops and the adjacent wall of the bag lying wholly within the loops for providing a yield in the seam against any force tending to separate the bag walls and sealing means applied over said seam.

8. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, and a yieldable reinforcing cord woven in a sinuous course beneath the loops of the stiches on one side of the bag.

9. A closure for paper bags which oomprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, and a yieldable reinforcin cord woven in a sinuous course beneath the%oops of the stitches on each side of the bag.

10. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, a yieldable reinforcin cord woven in a sinuous course beneath t e loops of the stitches on one side of the bag and sealing means applied over said seam.

11. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, and a reinforcin cord formed of twisted crepe aper pasself beneath the loops of the stitc es on one side of the bag.

12. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, and a reinforcing cord formed of twisted crepe paperv passed beneath the loops of the stitches on each side of the bag.

13. A closure for paper bags which comprises a stitched seam securing the walls of the bag together adjacent their ends, a reinforcing cord formed of twisted crepe paper passed beneath the loops of the stitches on one side of the bag and a sealing strip formed of crepe pa er pasted to the wall of the bag and applie over the seam.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 10 day of November, 1931.

WEBSTER NOYES BAKER. 

